Born international spin-offs in an Italian industrial district: an exploratory study on two range hood producers

The paper analyzes the peculiarities and the drivers of the accelerated internationalization strategies of two range hood manufacturers, born as spin-offs, in a small Italian district. Spin-offs are very frequent within industrial districts and can be considered an important way of transferring tacit knowledge from an existing firm to a newly formed one. The present work fits into this cognitive perspective and aims to understand the role played by the founders’ learning processes and the relationships established in previous work activities in the creation of born global firms. This study differs from earlier works on born global firms for two main reasons: a) the object of analysis is a specific sector and a given production hub; b) the phenomenon is examined through the multiple case analysis explorative method. The research not only highlights the regional character of the phenomena, but also delves into the role played by certain external factors (which affect the different attractiveness of foreign markets compared to the domestic one). A further significant aspect emerging from the investigation, relates the founders’ previous working experiences (as an employee/manager), representing a time of learning and development of personal relationships which are able to facilitate the process of accelerated internationalization of the new firm.